I use social media, Facebook in particular, to connect with friends and network for business reasons so I hardly play any of the games or post anything too crazy in my status updates.  All of the messages you see that say copy and re-post if you agree sometime annoy me.  But the other day, I ran across one that made me stop and think for a second and I actually reposted it.  Here is what it said:

“An old man once said, “There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don’t. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living.”~Re-post if you agree”

I reposted it because I actually did agree with this.  This is exactly one of the things that I spoke about in my first post “Oh Lordy, Look who’s Forty” about things just changing or needing to change once I reached forty.  After having many loved ones pass away, I realized that being happy is more important to me than the trivial drama that people tend to bring to your lives at times.

Friends are the most dispensable to me when as it relates to this.  I have had many friends over the years but there are not that many that I would call true friends.  I am not saying in any way they were always the reason why those friendships changed or ended.  I can and will admit to my guilt in a few but I do feel like I had valid reasons.  As I have gotten older, there are just less things that I am willing to tolerate.  Does that make me set in my ways?  Maybe so, but I do think they turned out for the better in most cases.  That is not to say that I have not been hurt by a person that I thought was a true friend from time to time as well.  A true friend to me accepts you and your faults and your short comings.  Is there to pick you up when you fall and share your happiest stories with you without judging you.  Is willing to hear your side of the story even if they think you are dead wrong and still call you tomorrow.  The reason why I ended those friendships is that I knew that I could not be a true friend to them.  Ultimately, I guess that is why people have ended their friendships with me as well.  And I am okay with that.  There is a time that it is okay to walk away from the person and the drama.  It is a known fact that stress is very bad for your health and if all that person does is cause you to have added stress, maybe that is not a friendship that is needed in your life.  You can say the same about relationships, even though they might be harder to get out of.

Now that I am older, I have lessened the amount of true friendships I have and even people I  just associate with.  There is enough going on in my life without the added stress.  I have come to realize that not everyone is going to like you and you do not have to be everyone’s friend.  Life is far too short to worry about things and people you can’t change.  My life now is much more focused on those few people I call my true friends and my family. Those are the people that know and love me.  They accept me for who I am as I do them and they make me happy.  With any type of personal relationship, yes there are issues but not any that cannot be overcome.  My life now is not by any means stress-less but less stressful.

How do you handle the stress and the people that bring it to you in your life?  Have you made any changes since you have gotten older?  Feel free to comment.